Tibetan Empire
The Tibetan Empire (T. bod chen po བོད་ཆེན་པོ; literally, "Great Tibet") was an empire centered on the Tibetan Plateau, formed as a result of imperial expansion under the Yarlung dynasty heralded by its 33rd king, Songtsen Gampo, in the 7th century. The empire further expanded under the 38th king, Trisong Detsen, and expanded to its greatest extent under the 41st king, Rapalchen, whose 821–823 treaty was concluded between the Tibetan Empire and the Tang dynasty. This treaty, carved into the Jokhang Pillar, delineated Tibet as being in possession of an area larger than the Tibetan Plateau, stretching east to Chang'an, west beyond modern Afghanistan, and south into modern India and the Bay of Bengal.[1]
Songtsen Gampo and two of his successors, Trisong Detsen and Ralpacan, are referred to as the "Three Dharma Kings" of Tibet. Songtsen Gampo is credited with first bringing the Buddhist teachings to Tibet, and Trisong Detsen and Ralpacan worked to make Buddhism more firmly established.
Overview
The Yarlung dynasty was founded in 127 BCE in the Yarlung Valley along the Yarlung River, south of Lhasa. The Yarlung capital was moved in the 7th century from the palace Yumbulingka to Lhasa by the 33rd king Songsten Gampo, and into the Red Fort during the imperial period which continued to the 9th century.
The beginning of the imperial period is marked in the reign of the 33rd king of the Yarlung dynasty, Songtsen Gampo. The power of Tibet's military empire gradually increased over a diverse terrain. During the reign of Trisong Detsen, the empire became more powerful and increased in size. At this time, a 783 treaty between the Tibetan Empire and the Tang dynasty defined the borders, as commemorated by the Shol Potala Pillar in Lhasa.[2] Borders were again confirmed during the later reign of the 41st king Ralpachen through his 821–823 treaty between the Tibetan Empire and Tang dynasty, which was also commemorated by three inscribed stelae.[3][2] In the opening years of the 9th century, the Tibetan Empire controlled territories extending from the Tarim Basin to the Himalayas and Bengal, and from the Pamirs into what are now the Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan. The murder of King Rapalchen in 838 by his brother Langdarma, and Langdarma's subsequent enthronement[2] followed by his assassination in 842 marks the beginning of the dissolution of the empire period.
Notes
Further reading
- Beckwith, Christopher I. (1987), The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia: A History of the Struggle for Great Power among Tibetans, Turks, Arabs, and Chinese during the Early Middle Ages, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0-691-02469-3
- Bushell, S. W. (1880), The Early History of Tibet. From Chinese Sources, Cambridge University Press
- LaRocca, Donald J. (2006), Warriors of the Himalayas: Rediscovering the Arms and Armor of Tibet, Metropolitan Museum of Art, ISBN 0-300-11153-3
- Lee, Don Y. The History of Early Relations between China and Tibet: From Chiu t'ang-shu, a documentary survey (1981) Eastern Press, Bloomington, Indiana. ISBN 0-939758-00-8
- Pelliot, Paul. Histoire ancienne du Tibet (1961) Librairie d'Amérique et d'orient, Paris
- Powers, John. History as Propaganda: Tibetan Exiles versus the People's Republic of China (2004) Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-517426-7
- Schaik, Sam van. Galambos, Imre. Manuscripts and Travellers: The Sino-Tibetan Documents of a Tenth-Century Buddhist Pilgrim (2011) Walter de Gruyter ISBN 978-3-11-022565-5
- Stein, Rolf Alfred. Tibetan Civilization (1972) Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-0901-7
- "The Early History of Tibet. From Chinese Sources" S. W. Bushell, The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, New Series, Vol. 12, No. 4 (Oct. 1880), pp. 435–541, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland
External links
Tibetan Empire, Wikipedia
Media related to Tibetan Empire at Wikimedia Commons
